Is Dallas green with trees? Are people friendly? (Greenville, Live Oak: new house, landscaping)

[Texyn]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Dallas has considerably more tree canopy than Denver, but it's not as lush and green as Atlanta. As a general rule of thumb, anything that isn't irrigated will be yellow or brown from July/August 'til February/March. The newer areas on the fringes to the north and east tend to have less tree cover (but still more than Denver).

Quite accurate, but I will say that there is a secondary (albeit short) window of re-greening of lawns/herbaceous cover during the late September - October period. The cold fronts penetrate strong enough to draw sufficient moisture for rains, but are still too weak to bring the freezes that put an end to greenery.

[Texyn]

It must be known that the prairie of Dallas isn't a true prairie in the climactic sense. While the 40 inches of annual rainfall in Dallas is meager compared to areas farther east, it is still sufficient enough to support great trees.

Rather, the prairies in Dallas are edaphic, wherein intrinsic soils play a huge role in favoring grass cover over what would otherwise be forested land. In the case of Dallas, the soils are of a type of clay that behaves in a way such that tree growth is more challenged, allowing grass to become more competitive. Combined with grazing herbivores and wildfires, and landcover ends up becoming prairie.

Emphasis on combination because no one factor alone is enough to shape the land; for instance, with the suppression of fire upon settlement, many woody shrubs/trees have been replacing the grassland. In due time, perhaps a few centuries at least, the land may grow into forest:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_blackland_prairies

The bottom line? Don't be fooled by the lack of trees you may see in parts of North Texas: you can still cultivate many of the beautiful plants that are found in Atlanta, just as long as you take care of soil and water needs. And while Dallas may be hotter and drier than Atlanta, it also is a bit milder in winter, which can give you access to tender plant options not possible in Atlanta. Basically, you can have a garden like this in Dallas:


Tony

[Nn2036]

Compared to the Midwest and the East, the trees in Dallas are somewhat short and stunted.

May be just the type of tree planted or the heat and wind are just too much for the tree.

[nurider2002]

As a Maryland transplant who was accustomed to large green valleys with lots of green and hilly landscape, Dallas was a huge change. That said, there are enough trees to keep me happy. The clear blue skies and warm temperatures made it a good trade off. As far as the people here, they may not be as “down Home” friendly as Baltimore but, I have found most folks to be friendly, albeit a tad more “reserved” for lack of a better word. I love the Dallas area!

[RJ312]

Originally Posted by Chloe333

Also, are people as a whole friendly and warm in Dallas? I've found the people in Denver to be cordial and pleasant enough, but there is also a reservedness and aloofness as well. I would love to get back to a place with more of the warmth, social etiquette, sweetness, and hospitality of some places that I've lived in the South. Hoping Dallas has this as well.

Do not confuse Dallas with those places. Dallas is not a genuine Southern experience.

I'd say that your social experience in Denver is reflective of what you'll likely experience in Dallas.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by HP48G

You will be disappointed if you’re expecting extensive tree coverage. This is a flat prairie, there are no magnificent native specimens... native vegetation is mostly brush, with medium sized trees confined to the flood plains of creeks

As for planted trees, only the older neighborhoods have decent sized trees. Everything else is still mostly young nursery trees.

We also have oak wilt, so lots of large oaks are dying every year, and with the fear of damage to foundations, many people decide to remove very large trees from their yards.

There are literally thousands of magnificent pecans trees in Dallas.

That first part is simply wrong. The area sports a number of largest in the country and largest in the state types trees according to A&M's big tree registry. Dallas County south of 635 has many thousands of very large pecan trees for an example. Roughly 30% of the land area in Dallas is tree covered.

[Dave1956]

Is Dallas green with trees? NO

Are people friendly? NO

[f4shionablecha0s]

lol suburbanites who live on former cornfields think Dallas is like Lubbock...

What is the Great Trinity Forest? – DFW Urban Wildlife

[turf3]

Nope, no trees at all.

All those objects lining streets like Tokalon Dr. or Gaston Ave? Those aren't trees, just incredibly realistic replicas.

The Trinity Forest? Actually located in Kentucky and they use mirrors to project an image of it to Dallas.

The big pecan tree on Armstrong Pkwy? Actually made of fiberglass. Amazing how people can be fooled for over 100 years, isn't it?

As far as friendliness, if you expect people in a city of well over a million people to ooh and aaah over the fact that you have moved here from elsewhere, or if you expect busy people in a fast paced city to "set a spell and chew the fat" like they might in a town of 75, you will be disappointed. If you refrain from constantly complaining about how Dallas is different from where you came from, you will find Dallasites about as friendly as people in any similar urban environment anywhere in the US. The difference between the behavior of corporate gypsies in their exurban McMansions versus aging hippies in their lower Greenville 1920s bungalows is much bigger than the difference between McMansion-exurbanites in Denver and McMansion-exurbanites in Dallas, just to pick an example.

[Mr. Clutch]

The Dallas area is definitely greener than Denver and there are (mostly older) areas with a lot of tree cover. There are also quite a few treeless prairie areas, but these are more common in the suburban areas.

The people aren't bad overall. I haven't spent enough time in Denver to compare, but I wouldn't imagine Dallas would be socially worse than Denver for most folks.